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Intercultural communication

‘I’m not listening to you!’ Interacting in a linguistically diverse society

By March 15, 2017116 Comments5 min read6,854 views
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-24/manus-island-detention-centre-oscar-compound-buildings/8146896

Manus Island Detention Centre, where Faysal Ishak Ahmed collapsed (Source: ABC News)

On December 23, 2016, as most Australians were winding down for the holiday week ahead, Faysal Ishak Ahmed, a 27-year-old man from South Sudan died in immigration detention when he collapsed with a seizure. After his death, it emerged that the young man had repeatedly presented at the facility’s healthcare provider over a period of several months for a range of health issues such as stomach upsets, high blood pressure, fevers and heart problems. However, he never got to see a doctor and each time was dismissed by the nurse on duty. He described one such incident to his friends shortly before his death:

I went to the [healthcare provider] and then [they] told me that, hey you don’t have anything, you are not sick and you’re pretending to be sick, and from now on, we don’t want you to come down here, so please stop coming here. (Quoted from ABC News)

Even if rarely with fatal consequences as in Ahmed’s case, the experience of not being listened to and not being taken seriously is one that many people who speak English “with an accent” can relate to.

Cases such as these where patients with limited proficiency in the dominant language are not taken seriously and oftentimes simply ignored are not unique to Australia, as a US study of doctors and nurses working with patients with limited English proficiency demonstrates (Kenison et al., 2016). In a quote that has almost uncanny echoes of Faysal Ishak Ahmed’s experience on the other side of the world, one junior doctor reported this conversation with a senior clinician to the researchers:

And he said, ‘Oh, you know we see this, a lot of this Haitian chest pain.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean by that?’ And he said, ‘Well, they come in and the tests are negative, and they have a different perception of pain than other people.’ He kind of wrote it off that way. I felt a little weird that it was written off that quickly. To write off the chest pain on a patient who is having trouble communicating because she’s using a phone interpreter. (Kenison et al., 2016, p. 3)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-24/manus-island-id-card-sudanese-refugee-faysal-ishak-ahmed/8147048

Faysal Ishak Ahmed, who died after being dismissed by health care provider (Source: ABC News)

Most people assume that language proficiency is a specific skill set that a person has or does not have. It is further assumed that, once migrants have reached a particular level of English, they will be able to “integrate” and interact on a level playing field. This view of language proficiency as a property of the speaker is fundamentally mistaken because we don’t use language as isolated individuals. Language is a social tool and language proficiency is jointly constructed in interaction. To be able to form grammatically correct sentences does not necessarily translate into “the power to impose reception”, as sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has pointed out.

A wealth of sociolinguistic evidence demonstrates that non-standard speech, such as the English of multilinguals that shows traces of their non-English-speaking background (NESB), is rarely taken just as a specific way of speaking but as an index of a particular identity – often the identity of someone who is considered less worthy. Ahmed was assumed to be a fake patient. In our research with adult NESB migrants here at Macquarie University, we have met highly qualified job applicants whose skills were obscured by their accents; capable and diligent students who were considered lazy and poorly motivated on the basis of their English expression; or consumers who did not manage to return faulty products within the warranty period because shop assistants pretended not to understand them.

Mundane interactions such as these have broad social consequences. Far from interacting on a level playing field, NESB speakers have unequal opportunities to access employment, education, health care or community participation.

While we have become increasingly vigilant with regard to discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality or disability, linguistic disadvantage is far more difficult to recognize. Partly this is due to the fact that Australians who speak English as their first language have fewer and fewer opportunities to learn another language and hence are poorly equipped to relate to the challenges of language learning. As a result, discussions of linguistic diversity are often based on the false premise that individuals exert full control over their linguistic repertoires. In reality, learning a new language while also trying to do things through the medium of that language – to work, to study, to present your symptoms to a nurse – is a double challenge and these two aims of communication are not always compatible.

To mitigate linguistic disadvantage requires both individual and institutional efforts. Individuals need to be prepared to share the communicative burden rather than placing it exclusively on the shoulders of NESB speakers. Institutions need to put in place adequate policies and training opportunities to identify and meet language needs. Switching on to an unfamiliar accent may require extra mental effort and catering to the language development needs of everyone in an institution requires extra resources. However, these investments will pay dividends by contributing to the kind of inclusive and cohesive society we all want to live in.

How language barriers such as these can be bridged will be the focus of tomorrow’s “Bridging Language Barriers” Symposium. We’ll be looking forward to welcoming attendees to Macquarie University but if you cannot attend in person, you can still join the conversation with our team of live-tweeters. Our Twitter hashtag will be #LOTM2017.

ResearchBlogging.org Kenison TC, Madu A, Krupat E, Ticona L, Vargas IM, & Green AR (2017). Through the Veil of Language: Exploring the Hidden Curriculum for the Care of Patients With Limited English Proficiency. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 92 (1), 92-100 PMID: 27166864

Ingrid Piller

Author Ingrid Piller

Dr Ingrid Piller, FAHA, is Distinguished Professor of Applied Linguistics at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Her research expertise is in bilingual education, intercultural communication, language learning, and multilingualism in the context of migration and globalization.

More posts by Ingrid Piller

Join the discussion 116 Comments

  • xxx says:

    When people migrate to a different country, they need to consider it carefully due to the various difficulties they might face. The language barrier can lead to serious issues, such as hindering access to medical assistance. Additionally, they might struggle with preserving and passing on their own culture to the next generations. Moving to a different country is undoubtedly a significant decision, but language is a language that we can acquire and overcome the barrier by learning as people could in the 18th century without any technology.

    In my workplace, we have a diverse staff of different nationalities. When some employees speak in their native language, I can’t understand at all. However, we manage to communicate effectively in English. We also share basic words from different languages, enabling us to learn from each other, which I always find interesting. I simply thought if there was only one language in the world, people could exchange anything easily, but it sounds boring like no color.

  • Daisy says:

    The conflict between performance and perception in language proficiency is a widespread issue that I have personally observed in a variety of circumstances. However, the problem is important to the larger debate. I’ve observed people with exceptional language skills who are sometimes misjudged or rejected by others who perceive them as less skilled because of their non-native accents. This perception bias frequently results in missed opportunities, discrimination, or the idea that the individual is less intelligent or capable. It is critical to note that language ability extends beyond grammatical correctness to include understanding languages and other communication styles. This issue highlights the need for both individuals and institutions to be more inclusive and sympathetic, knowing that language proficiency is produced collaboratively in social interactions. We can create a more inclusive society where everyone has equal opportunities and their skills are not veiled by linguistic differences by addressing these perceived discriminations and investing in language support.

  • Undraa says:

    After professor Ingrid presented about the McGurk effect, an audio-visual speech illusion that demonstrates the impact of visual cues on speech perception and relevant experimental research – “Seeing Asians speaking English” conducted by Donald Rubin in 1992, I have acknowledged that the McGurk effect influences the perception of ‘Native speaker’ teachers are valued more than ‘Non-native’ teachers and it is kind of natural phenomenon, not racism or discrimination. It was really eye-opener for me to think about some common perceptions in a different way. Therefore, now I am thinking that ‘Non-native’ language teachers may better to concentrate on justifying their proficiency through their pedagogy, classroom management techniques, adaptability, creativity and empathy etc rather than fighting against the misconception or complaining.

    • Thanks, Undraa! Reminds me of the serenity prayer “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.” – I think that’s a good motto for many things in life …

  • Arghavan says:

    This is a very eye-opening story of the barriers migrants go through after seeking a different life in a different location. Most of us did not know what to expect until we actually experienced a challenge in communication and its consequences. I have already shared the story of me on my first week, not knowing to press that STOP button on the bus. I did not ask anyone for help because the idea of not knowing something a child might easily know can be very embarrassing for an adult. Another narrative is from my cousin, who is a successful Civil engineer leading a team in one of the biggest construction companies in Sydney. She told me that in her first year as an engineer, she had to record all meetings and spend time at home to decode all the information shared and this affected her confidence drastically. She came to this realisation only after a time, that she doing her job in a second language, only makes her more capable than any monolingual employee in the office. Another interaction of mine was with a Chinese old man, who used Google Translate for communication. I realised that he tried translating the simple English word “ok” to communicate with me and I could not help but think how his lack of confidence in performing language has caused him not to believe in himself and his knowledge to this extent and the reasons that might have caused this! Thanks for reading my comment.

    • Oh – having to rely on Google translate to say “ok” is pretty sad 🙁 … but maybe he tried to say something more complicated and simply gave up? …

      • Arghavan says:

        Hi Ingrid, I do think he knew that ok is ok in both languages but anyway maybe not at that moment because his confidence was extremely boosted down?

        I would like to look into the subject of linguistic barriers further here.
        Please don’t miss the cute picture of the cat and dig trying to communicate in my resource:)
        As we all know, when communicating, language can be non-verbal, such as through signs, body language, or facial expressions, or verbal, such as using words to read, write, and talk. However, sometimes even with all of that, communication cannot be properly done and the message will not be conveyed. These barriers include cultural diversities, ambiguity in communication and language barriers. Different types of language barriers are: foreign language, accents, dialects, pidgin, jargon and slang, word choice, literacy, or grammar.
        Here are some suggestions for overcoming linguistic barriers::
        To prevent ambiguity and verbosity, communicate using language that is straightforward, precise, and concise is a good idea. To cut down on mistakes in writing and speech, using grammar and spell-checking applications can be helpful. At last, the only way to break a linguistic barrier is to gain linguistic proficiency as it’s critical to be proficient in the language you use for successful communication.
        I would like to add that it is important for learners and migrants to know that most people are patient and it is absolutely okay to make mistakes.

        https://www.communicationtheory.org/language-barriers-in-communication/

  • Ally says:

    This is such a tragic story but I witness versions of this event in every country I have been in whereby non native language speakers suffer often severe or inconvenient consequences based on the biased misperceptions of others. I have experienced this myself many times and this has helped me develop compassion for students and people I meet struggling linguistically. This has helped me to become a better language teacher and friend. In Australia I routinely come across people struggling to be understood in English although I understand them perfectly. The person they are attempting to communicate with appears to not even be trying to listen and understand. For successful communication to happen both parties firstly need to want to communicate, that is key. I have found that even if both parties speak not one word of a language in common, but want to communicate, they can fairly easily do so to some degree. I have noticed that when people hear my accent when speaking French, they can become quickly dismissive and do not even try to listen to what I am saying. Japanese people see my face and have the same reaction very quickly going to, ” I don’t understand or I don’t speak English”. In Japanese, I have often had to speak slowly and clearly and repeat the sentence : “I am speaking Japanese” before people visibly relax and stat to communicate. Many people are nerpous of people who look or sound different, no matter how care the speaker uses with their communication.

  • Saraf says:

    I remember reading about this incident in an article. It breaks my heart but also frustrates me to no end. It is not just our accent that gets judged. You get judged as less worthy before you even open your mouth, just from your appearance. They expect to hear foreign accents or broken English from the very beginning. I wear hijab and have brown skin. It would be a lie to say that my appearance doesn’t get a second glance.

    Since stepping into this foreign land, I have faced subtle or blatant discrimination quite a few times. Some people have left mid conversation like I wasn’t even talking. I had a supervisor at work mock my accent behind my back. She knows I heard her but she didn’t care. Hopefully these kind of situations will get fewer and fewer and people will accommodate others by truly being open minded.

    • So sorry this happened to you, Saraf, although I’m unfortunately not surprised, either. I, too, hope that as a society we are moving in the right direction and becoming less racist.

  • Dory says:

    After coming to Australia, I have witnessed various incidents where a person’s performance is judged by the person’s accent. An assumption is created on the abilities of the person based on the person’s accent. I, myself have faced situations, where asking somebody to repeat something feels like a crime. I could immediately feel that I am being perceived as someone who is not quite proficient in the language even though I have made no grammatical errors. The constant expectation of native-level fluency often leads to feeling of frustration as my accent is creating my identity, not my performance.
    I also believe that language proficiency is evaluated differently in different contexts. A person with a high IELTS score shouldn’t be assumed to have a great fluency. Because in a formal academic setting, a person is being judged on the grammar, structure of sentences and use of vocabulary. But in a real life setting, it is very different. Here, fluency will depend on many elements, such as knowledge and understanding of the culture, practicality and signals that are not verbal. Someone who is performing well in tests can also struggle in their everyday life due to lack of knowledge of the culture and the ability to interpret certain concepts.
    Moreover, I find it very amusing how someone with a British accent is considered to be of high standards. I have seen how many of my friends get overshadowed by people while talking face to face because they are not fluent in spoken English even though they can read, write well. Acknowledging these problems will help create a inclusive picture of language proficiency. Everyone needs to understand that this is not a one-size-fit-all concept rather a dynamic interaction between performance and perception.

  • Abdulla Zubayr Nafea says:

    I’ve encountered a situation similar to Chloe Ng’s experience. I work in customer service at a chicken shop, and, unfortunately, some customers are culturally biased. I’ve noticed that certain customers, primarily of non-Asian backgrounds, seem reluctant to accept assistance from our Asian staff members. Instead, they wait for a white colleague to assist them, which really creates a discomfort situation for us. In some cases, these customers are quick to complain about our service, even when it’s the same high-quality service offered by all our staff members. This bias based on the ethnicity of the staff can lead to unequal treatment and affect team morale. Sometimes we, feel like society is depriving us which is affecting our mental health.

  • An Ng says:

    Reading the article above saddened me how a lack of language proficiency can lead to tragedies. Fortunately, I have not personally experienced such kind of situations before. Back in Vietnam, I used to think that my language skills are pretty decent, and I am able to express myself fully in English. However, my confidence took a hit when I landed my first job in Sydney, working as a waitress at a local restaurant. During my initial days at work, I often struggled with understanding customer orders due to their accents and the unfamiliar Australian dishes on the menu. As a result, I got quite a lot orders wrong, leading to repeated apologies. Overtime, I have learned from these mistakes and begun adapting to Australian dining culture. While I haven’t fully regained my confidence, I now can interact comfortably with my lovely customers. I even got some pretty good feedbacks for my service from them ^^

  • Thuybebong says:

    This post and the McGurk effect keep me thinking about different perceptions about the profile of English teachers in my teaching context in Viet Nam. Speakers of English without “an Asian appearance”, regardless of their home countries (Britain, Australia, German, The Philippines, Turkish, etc.), experience in teaching and TESOL methodologies, seem to enjoy a higher pay rate than the Vietnamese born-and-bred ones. This special treatment toward the “foreign-looking” teachers seems to be questionable, as the Vietnamese teachers are not inferior when it comes to language knowledge and pedagogical skills, and some well-trained Vietnamese teachers are likely to outperform their backpacker counterparts without experience teaching English. Besides, some parents and students deem the English centres with “foreign speakers” (whom the centres advertise as “native speakers”) more reliable and effective than the one employing qualified Vietnamese teachers.

  • Sihoon Yang says:

    This post reminds me of a social experiment that was conducted in the United States. The person conducting the experiment was of African-American descent and he spoke English as his native language. But what was unique about him was that he was able to speak English in different ways. He could talk in English like a Caucasian man from the suburbs and he was also able to speak like a person who was from a predominantly African-American neighborhood. He spoke over the phone to buy a house in the “Caucasian way” first and he was able to get a house right away. The second time, he called the same person but he spoke in an “African-American way” and he was told that all the houses were sold out. Many others like Faysal Ishak Ahmed, experience discrimination of some sort on a daily basis, whether it is big or small. In my personal experience, it is leaned more towards appearance but as an Asian man, I was also told to go with a Caucasian friend when getting a house even though I have lived in the States for more than 10 years. In the modern world, it seems that appearance as well as proficiency in English continue to be an issue as people still face discrimination.

    • For housing discrimination etc. the US context, I strongly recommend this book: Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English with an accent: language, ideology, and discrimination in the United States (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.

  • Panda Girl says:

    Working as an early childhood educator, I’ve made observations that migrant children often get mislabeled as students with learning disabilities. When I worked at a preschool in China, I noticed it happening to a Filipino child. And now in Australia, in an early learning school, it’s a similar situation with some Chinese children. Had I not been able to understand both Filipino and Mandarin, I, too, might have mistakenly categorized the children as such, and to be honest, it is easier for the teachers label the children in such a way and get on with their day rather than putting in extra effort into creating multilingual learning opportunities for the sake of inclusivity.
    Although mislabeling migrants seem to be common practice in my experience, I see this as an issue that needs future intervention from the Department of Education. In my opinion, mislabeling such young learners can have long-lasting effects to a child’s self-esteem and educational trajectory. Language proficiency needs to be viewed more holistically in the early childhood setting. There is currently a lack of consideration for a student’s abilities in their native language. In fact, recently in my workplace, a learner who was regarded as disabled was actually found out to be excelling above average when I gave him a math problem to solve. His 4 year-old peers could barely count to a hundred, while this child could do addition and subtraction in the hundreds. He was labeled with a learning disability because he didn’t (or refused to) speak in the classroom, but when I communicated with him in Mandarin and encouraged him, he was able to converse in coherent sentences about his family life. If his “disabled” label continues, his potential for language growth among other things would be ignored.
    Perhaps ensuring that early childhood educators receive training to accurately assess and support the language development of migrant children could be done. Or at least some form of targeted language support could be considered.

    • So true! This is such a common problem faced by migrant children and can have disastrous consequences, particularly in education systems that stream early. Great you were able to discover this little boy’s talents!

  • Chloe Ng says:

    This story is so sad and it reminds me of many cases where immigrants suffered from language barriers. I worked in a dental clinic where our dentists come from different backgrounds. Sometimes when the patients called to book appointments, they asked me where the dentist came from. Some of them preferred to meet Chinese doctors if they are Chinese as they told me that it’s easier for them to describe their situations to the doctors. Meanwhile, if the patient calls and I advise them to see the doctors from India, Nepal or Vietnam, they’re in doubt and ask me how long those dentists worked in the dentistry field. If I cannot provide the answers, they refuse to see the dentists because they doubt the dentist’s qualifications or they couldn’t understand what the dentists say due to their strong accents. When the dentists knew that they were refused because of their accents, I could feel how upset and “painful” they felt.
    Not until those conversations did I realise that even though we all wish for an equal life, immigrants, regardless of their status in life, have still suffered from inequality to some extent. I think it is similar to the story about the listening test where students insisted that they didn’t understand just because they knew it was recorded by an Asian person. Accents are no doubt one of the biggest obstacles of immigrants when living in English-speaking countries. As you mentioned, it definitely leads to unequal access to health, education, profession and community participation. Hopefully it’s soon sorted out in this increasingly flatter world.

    • Thanks, Chloe, for this interesting perspective. For sure, patients can be equally dismissive of migrant health professionals …

    • Ally says:

      Hi Chloe
      Your comment is very astute and I sadly agree with your observations. Even speaking another language at a very high level, with a high level of education, but with an accent, can have severe consequences. In fact, this is not only true in English speaking countries, this kind of bias exists all over the world, even in multilingual countries. When I am visiting my husband’s family in Switzerland, I speak French at a B2 level. This is fairly high and adequate to navigate most situations. I have studied French for over 50 years as I am Canadian so my comprehension is much higher than my B2 speaking ability. Although Switzerland officially has four languages and sits in the middle of NW Europe surrounded by countries speaking different languages, I find it very challenging to be a non-native French speaking woman. Additionally, as I am caucasian I look similar to the majority of the population, which presents another layer of challenge due to my invisible temporary migrant appearance. Until I open my mouth I am not different. However, as soon as I speak, I often encounter various biases. I am routinely dismissed, ignored, misunderstood, treated like I am stupid, left out of conversations or interactions, socially sidelined or excluded, interrupted or face other challenges. If my husband is present I ask him what I said wrong and he confirms that I said it perfectly but as soon as people hear my accent they often stop listening and make assumptions. I know that my non-caucasian friends face even greater biases and challenges which I have witnessed all over the world when people of colour speak English or another foreign language. I don’t think people are always trying to be intentionally malicious, however it does severely affect the speakers linguistic confidence when faced repeatedly by this challenge. There are times during visits when I just stop speaking French as my confidence is shattered and it all just feels too hard.

      • Thanks, Ally! It might help to distinguish between interactions that matter and those that don’t. If it’s just social chitchat and nothing much rides on the interaction (other than your self-confidence), you might just as well take the free practice opportunity 😉

    • Abdulla Zubayr Nafea says:

      Thank you for sharing your experiences, and you’ve highlighted an important issue. It’s disheartening to see how accents can affect people’s access to essential services. Even I face almost similar kind of problem in my workplace. I also work in customer service at a restaurant and some customers are culturally biased. This really affects our mental health. However, we indeed need more awareness and efforts to promote inclusivity and equal opportunities for immigrants in English-speaking countries.

  • Yulan says:

    I have actually been treated unfairly in Australia due to language issues. When I was studying for my diploma at Macquarie University, the building was still under renovation and I suffered from severe formaldehyde allergy. I had just arrived in Australia, and when I spoke to my advisor, I could only describe the discomfort and allergy I experienced due to the renovation of the building. Even though I went to the GP and got a medical certificate, she still thought I was faking because none of the other students had the same condition as me. Therefore, she rejected my application for special consideration for the final exam, which ultimately led to me fainting in the exam room during the final exam and was rushed to the hospital for resuscitation. And when I was transferred to the general ward and just woke up, she was still calling me to ask if I would go to the Uni to meet her immediately.

  • Thi Thu Ha Pham says:

    It’s sad to read this article, but obviously, this is the current situation many immigrants are facing with. For me, an experience with a Japanese woman at the English center where I used to work in Vietnam clearly illustrates the contradiction between performance and perception in language competency. The Japanese woman, who spoke English at a beginner level, found it difficult for her to explain herself clearly. When she came to the center and complained about the course, our manager showed outstanding tolerance and concern. Despite her low skill, our manager actively listened to every word she said, realizing the necessity of appreciating her viewpoint. Our manager’s reaction showed a thorough understanding of the disparity between one’s actual language abilities and how they may be perceived. Fortunately, He stayed calm and soft when addressing her worries, and then he delivered the course subject slowly by using graded language. Eventually, she understood why she was confused and she was not angry anymore.

  • Ashiqur Rahman says:

    Moving to Australia has been a whirlwind. In just a short span of two months, I’ve picked up on so much — the culture, the landscape, the vibe. Yet, one thing that’s been hard to miss is how accents can mold perceptions. Back home, my way of speaking was just…normal. Here, it feels like each word I say gets an extra second of attention.

    It’s not always negative attention. But those brief moments of confusion, the occasional “Sorry, could you repeat that?” or “Pardon?” — it chips away at my confidence bit by bit. I catch myself running words in my head before saying them out loud. And honestly? It feels weird. Why should I, or anyone, have to do that?

    Some folks crack jokes, saying I sound “brand new” here. I chuckle along, but it does make me wonder. Australia’s this rich tapestry of cultures and backgrounds. So many of us sound different, and that’s okay. What we say, our stories and insights, that’s the gold. The accent? Just a wrapper.

  • Yeon says:

    From the lesson of week 6, I was impressed with the fact that the areas with high linguistic diversity are socioeconomically disadvantaged. This has prompted me to reflect on the experiences of foreigners living in Korea. For the past 20 years, there has been significant influx of foreigners into Korea due to international marriage, employment, and studies etc. While many Koreans exhibit positive attitudes toward people from abroad, there seems to remain some discrimination faced by some foreigners who come from non-English speaking countries. I’ve seen many news reports that highlight unfair treatment including issues related to wages, working hours, and workplace safety among foreign workers. Additionally, the Korean government has very strict policies on accepting asylum seekers. In 2022, only 175 are accepted as refugees out of 11,539 applications. These difficulties can contribute to some foreigners experiencing socioeconomic disadvantages while they are living in Korea. Korea is already undergoing the transformation into a multicultural society. Consequently, the challenges and disparities faced by certain foreigners should be addressed to promote harmony within Korean society.

    • Thanks, Yeon! How to deal with the social, political, economic, and cultural challenges resulting from migration is one of the big questions facing almost all societies today …

  • Blueberry Yogurt says:

    I also have an unpleasant experience in Sydney. Back in 2009, I first came to Australia. I had ‘the (foreign) accent’.
    One day, my roommate and I were getting ready to eat out in a restaurant. We had a big floor mirror. You know the one you look in to check how you look today before you go out.
    It fell down on the ground and one of the edges skinned my roommate’s ankle. The cut was serious. She was bleeding. We rushed into the nearest emergency room. The doctor at the emergency room asked us if she got a tetanus shot. We had no idea what a tetanus shot was. And we searched for the word on the smartphone. And we were trying to explain what had happened. When I said the word “mirror” to the doctor, he said “I don’t understand what you are saying.” And he just got out. The doctor and the nurses there seemed indifferent to us.

    My roommate was even more terrified and in panic. I just calmed her down, saying “I think they are just busy with other things.. everything is gonna be alright.”
    I said that to her not only to calm her but also, I guess, I didn’t want to accept the fact that we were, perhaps, being poorly treated because of our poor English proficiency.

    Anyway, he sutured the wound. We never went back to that hospital but, we went to a clinic farther where there is a Korean doctor.

    • So sorry this happened to you and your friend! Medical emergencies are scary under the best of circumstances and, sadly, long wait times are not unusual in NSW hospitals. Add language barriers and discrimination and you’ve got a perfect storm …

    • Blueberry Yogurt says:

      In 2009, I was walking on the street in Sydney. A man in a black suit pushed me hard on my shoulder for no reason. I was just frozen didn’t know what to do just looking at him. He looked at me saying “what.” I just looked down and walked with tears.
      A few years ago, when the Covid 19 pandemic hit the peak in South Korea, my mom and I went shopping to a department store. And I heard an old Korean lady say disapprovingly “How can they even shop here? Who let them in?” towards foreigners. I am not sure what country they come from, but one thing was for sure they were not ‘White’.

      I wondered why people are racists even though we know it it wrong and ridiculous. In fact, there are no biological differences. There is no race which is superior or inferior. We’re all the same!!!

      According to Australian Human Rights Commission, people pass the biased judgements toward races on their children. They take on their parents’ views spontaneously. In addition, people want to build relationships with those who are like them. For example, to share the same culture, interests, custom, language and appearances gives ‘the sense of belonging’. It is why we simply exclude people from different backgrounds. Furthermore, we need a scapegoat to blame. When there is a problem, it has been always easier to blame one who is the weakest.
      And the real problem is that, unless we do something about it now, racism can stay with us as long as we exist. We need to stop it now.

      Reference list
      https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/why-are-people-racist

      • So sorry this happened to you! In our research for Life in a new language we heard many such stories and participants struggled not only to come to terms with the racist incident itself but also with their own response. Those who did not say anything kept reliving the incident and imagining how they could have reacted differently. Those who seemed to have achieved the most closure were those who challenged the racist in one or another. One of my favorite stories is this one told by a man from Ethiopia:
        “There was a time when we went for shopping, and this white lady- she was intoxicated. She said, “What are you doing here? Go back to your home!” I told her that, “Are you crazy?” The one that comes first, goes first. Because I know that this is the land of Aboriginals. And I told her that the one who came first, should go first. I came yesterday. And she didn’t say anything. She went.”

  • J i F says:

    I have experienced that accent/dialect play a role in the effectiveness of conversation in Australia. As an ESL teacher, I encourage my students to initially focus on using English as a tool rather than mastering the accent itself.

    However, I used to live in Singapore for 6 years and it was a whole different story over there. I realised that Singaporeans tend to ignore the conversation or easily avoid the social interaction with me on my first year there when I don’t speak their dialect, ‘Singlish’. So, I had practised the Singlish dialect for years and excelled that. Consequently, I have had the local accent, speak their slangs and talk at the same speed as them which led to inclusivity. In social context, it helps me to blend in with the new community and live conveniently. For work environment, Singaporeans associate the energetic and fast speed of talking with productive and good competency which are ideal properties of a person that Singaporeans want to work with. I know many friends who struggle to live in Singapore because they cannot speak Singlish, while others changed their own accent, speak Singlish and blend in very well.

    • Thanks, JiF. So are you saying that you’ve found it easier to fit in in Singapore? How would you compare the linguistic adaptation challenges you’ve face in Australia and Singapore?

      • J i F says:

        Hello Ingrid. Yes, after I speak Singlish, I’ve found it so much easier to fit in in Singapore than my (previous) Thai accent. I didn’t really understand why they judged a Thai accent, made fun of it, or sometimes just pretended they couldn’t understand me at first. My Singaporean friend used to tell me that he assumed Thai people to speak and work slowly as how he perceived a Thai language to be gentle and is softly spoken. (e.g. Thais often speak slower than Singaporeans in general and also to show respect/politeness.) It was a very competitive and challenging environment to live in for me.

        However, compare with Australia, it is so different as people here are so respectful and do not judge anyone’s accent (or at least they try not to). I do not feel like I need to ‘blend in’ to have an Aussie accent or anything. I can finally be myself or use any accent I want. With lots of immigrants here, I don’t feel out of place. Australia warmly welcomes me and makes me feel like I belong here. Australia is perfect for me! 🙂

  • Robert says:

    Fortunately, I have not yet felt disadvantaged because of my linguistical capabilities even though any native speaker of English can immediately recognize that it is not my first language. However, my previous flat mate told me that he has encountered some difficulties when looking for a job here in Australia even though he had finished his degree in Sydney and has lived here for a few years now. He said that at times he felt misunderstood and disadvantaged due to his imperfect pronunciation and non-native way of speaking. Ultimately, he ended up getting a well-paid position in his field of study but the path up to this point was harder than it should have been. Funnily, I was very confused when I first heard about his struggles because to me, his pronunciation is flawless. He even utilizes Australian slang in his daily speech, saying words and phrases like “mate”, “arvo” or “he´ll be right” daily. In hindsight, he might have taught himself to incorporate those on purpose, in order to sound more Australian…

    • Great story, Robert. What you describe may be over-compensation on the part of your flat mate but it may also be listening “bias” on your part. As we saw with the McGurk effect, our perceptions are not only based on objective acoustic signals … plus, we do not only speak with an accent but also “hear with an accent,” i.e. our listening is influenced by the patterns of our first language: there is a whole research area devoted to “non-native listening” (I’m not a fan of the “native vs. non-native” terminology but definitely some fascinating research in that area).

      • Robert says:

        Great point, Ingrid. I can totally see that it could be listening “bias” on my part. The McGurk effect is quite fascinating. I didn’t realize how intertwined visual signals were with acoustic signals.

  • Saya says:

    As an international student, I’m still struggling with language proficiency. I can’t imagine how challenging it was for him to explain his symptoms, and how he suffered that they couldn’t understand.

    Before coming to Australia, I worked in a hotel where about 90 percent of the customers were from abroad (before COVID-19), as it’s a global company. During my work, I communicated in English, and I believed I could communicate effectively in English. However, after arriving in Australia, my confidence dwindled, and I feel like I can’t communicate effectively at all. When I speak English in Japan, people understand that I’m not a native speaker and my English isn’t perfect. Of course, I have a Japanese accent. So I suppose my guests didn’t have extremely high expectations for my English skills. However, in Australia, we can’t assess someone’s language proficiency until we engage in a conversation. Even with simple basic words, it’s challenging to pronounce correctly to ensure understanding. These factors make me anxious because this is when I truly evaluate my language proficiency. At the same time, this is one of the reasons I came to Australia to enhance my real English skills. Therefore, I must overcome these challenges.

    • Good luck, Saya! And keep in mind that life is not a perpetual language test, even in Australia 🙂
      I think what probably explains a good part of your different experience in Japan and Australia is the differential willingness of your interlocutors to share the communicative burden. It takes two people to ensure successful communication, but in so-called native speaker contexts willingness to share the communicative burden often falls away and all the effort is placed on the shoulders of the L2 speaker …
      Btw, the same pattern is at work in Japan: you might be interested in this post: https://www.languageonthemove.com/foreign-nurses-face-the-kanji-hurdle/

  • Anonymous says:

    The article makes an important point: how people perceive language skills does not always match a person’s actual abilities. There is a Chinese man working in our country and living near me. Gradually, we became friends, and he shared his history with me. He had been in the USA and had a strong Chinese accent when speaking English. Despite his remarkable intellect and academic achievements, he often encountered challenges stemming from others’ perceptions of his language proficiency. He vividly remembered an incident when he was attending a seminar. The man, with his characteristic enthusiasm for sharing his thoughts, actively participated in the discussion. However, some of his peers, who were native English speakers, appeared somewhat dismissive of his contributions due to his accent. He was incredibly smart, but because of his Chinese accent when speaking English, some people underestimated him. They paid more attention to his accent than to his brilliant ideas. It reminds us that we should create inclusive spaces where everyone’s voice matters, no matter how they sound. Bridging the gap between how we act in language and how others perceive us is essential for a healthy society.

    • Thanks for sharing. This seems an unusual case in the you describe the guy as an enthusiastic participant with brilliant ideas, but without any confidence issues … do you know anything about his communication experiences in your country?

      • Anonymous says:

        One instance that illustrates his communication challenges in our country involved a visit to a pet hospital to seek treatment for his dog. Upon careful consideration, the doctor advised him to return at 4 pm for the appointment. However, there was a misunderstanding, and my friend interpreted this as needing to wait at the hospital until 4 pm. Several hours passed, and when the doctor noticed him still waiting, there was a miscommunication. The doctor asked him why he hadn’t returned at the instructed time, which highlights the language barrier he faced in our country.

  • Dilys says:

    I feel really saddened when I read about such experiences. I had a Vietnamese friend when I studied ELP before enrolling in the master course. She was timid and in the process of adapting to both the English language and Australian culture. She used to share a disheartening incident with me related to her tension in English communication. While on a train, she accidentally brushed against an older man. She tried to explain that it was because she could not stand steady when the train moved, but he ultimately rejected her. He was irate and scolded my friend a lot. Even in the presence of other passengers, he loudly berated her for the unintentional contact. This ordeal marked her first crisis upon arriving in Australia. Nonetheless, she holds Australia dear and acknowledges that this encounter was an exception. She has since formed bonds with many kind and patient Australian friends who have supported her in improving her English communication skills.

  • Yeon says:

    Adjusting to a new environment and a change in social status can be challenging for anyone. Personally, I had a stable life in my home country with a secure job and income, placing me in a relatively comfortable social position. However, upon coming to study in a new place for a certain period, I found myself without a job and a stable income. These circumstances seemed to make me a little bit depressed and to influence confidence in communicating in English. I felt I was the sole individual struggling to communicate in English. It discouraged me to speak out English. However, I felt secure and capable of expressing myself in my ELP class that I have taken before starting my master course. In that class, I believed that my teacher would make an effort to understand what I wanted to say, and provide constructive feedbacks. Moreover, my classmates were all international students from non-English speaking countries. We were all on journey to enhance our language skills and aware of the challenges of speaking fluently. Such mutual understanding seemed to help me to have more confidence in using the target language.

    • The opportunity to practice in a safe and supportive environment is so important. The much touted sink-or-swim approach rarely works … you might also be interested in this post: https://www.languageonthemove.com/sink-or-swim-for-international-students/

      • Mahaan says:

        It’s heartbreaking to hear such an incident because of low language proficiency. People who have low language proficiency must suffer in several severe ways. Native speakers do not have to learn other languages and they don’t know the suffering of foreign language speakers struggling to adapt in the circumstance. I’ve personally experienced the tension between performance and perception in language competency. I remember an incident when I was in Dubai. I was there for 3 months travelling and visiting the places. It was already night while returning to my residence, but I caught the wrong bus. I struggled to communicate but I couldn’t make anyone clear about my destination. My mobile was switched off to call anyone for help. I was scared I couldn’t find the way to my residence. I tried multiple times to speak to other people to figure out the place, but I was unable to make them understand. I asked a person to call one of my brothers and finally he helped me. That was the most terrible moment I faced due to my low language proficiency.

        • Sorry this happened to you. Sounds really scary! I had a similar experience when I was a 12-year-old exchange student in a small town in England. I had gone for a walk and lost my way (all houses looked exactly the same to me); I was too scared to approach a passerby for directions and I didn’t have any change to make a phone call (this was before mobile phones …); I just kept wandering around and grew more and more desperate; eventually, I mustered all my courage and walked into a shop to ask for directions. I was so nervous that I simply burst into tears … which got me a free lolly and an escort to the house of my host family 🙂 All’s well that ends well, and we have both gained a memorable story 🙂

  • Nurunnahar says:

    As an International student when I moved to Australia I have noticed that there is a difference between my language performance and how other people perceive it. My language using ability was decent when I arrived in Australia but sometimes I made mistakes too. For example : The Australian accent and their vocabulary is quite difficult to understand too. Once in my workplace I asked one of my customer if they needed any bag and she replied ” I am alright, thank you” . That moment I actually got confused and could not understand if she needed the bag or not, because I have always exposed to yes or no answers to this kind of questions. Then I thought that may be she wanted a bag and started putting the stuffs inside and then she replied that she doesn’t need a bag. I could actually feel the tension when people used to assume my language using ability based on these mistakes. When I started working here I found that the accent plays a vital role in this country. Even when I spoke fluently, because of my Asian accent some people used to think that I am not proficient enough. I think many people face this kind of problem when they migrant to a new country and sometimes these perceptions even affect job opportunities and social interactions. Over time my language skills have improved significantly and I think with time I will learn more about language.

    • Thanks, Nurunnahar! As you say, things become easier with time. At the same time, you don’t have to put every misunderstanding on yourself – for some reason, way too many people think it’s ok to be rude to service staff, unfortunately.

  • Mamduha Hossain Sharita says:

    I feel sad for Faysal after reading this article. In Bangladesh, I have also observed tensions between performance and perception in language proficiency, especially in English. In Bangladesh, some have strong English proficiency and others don’t. As Bangladeshi, I can say that they mock those who are less proficient. Even I can say from my experience that I would be more comfortable speaking in English in front of other country’s people rather than people of my country. As they mock on mistakes of others, and they judge harshly as well. It creates tension which hinders performance in language proficiency.
    One more thing is that most of the linguistic abilities are judged by only exams or formal settings, which doesn’t relate to everyday communication. As a result, it is creating a gap between how a person performs in a language test and how they communicate well in practical life.

  • Aaron says:

    I’ve heard of similar instances in America, as described in this article, particularly at hospitals in Los Angeles. As an American living in South Korea, I’ve personally experienced the tension between performance and perception in language competency, albeit to a lesser extent. Despite my understandable level of Korean proficiency, I’ve encountered situations where my language contributions were systematically ignored. This is most noticeable in social contexts such as restaurants. Even when I initiate conversations in Korean for ordering food or making requests, the responses frequently bypass me in favor of engaging with a native Korean companion I’m with, rendering my linguistic performance virtually invisible due to the assumption that Westerners can’t speak the language.This dismissive attitude extends beyond the mechanics of language into the realm of symbolic competence. The staff’s failure to acknowledge my attempts at speaking Korean not only devalues my linguistic capital but also deprives me of a crucial avenue for authentic language use. This perpetuates a ‘Matthew Effect,’ where linguistic inequities worsen over time. Although subtle, the exclusion I’ve experienced violates broader ethical standards that we should uphold. Interestingly, there is a strong linguistic bias in Korea; Westerners are generally not expected to speak Korean, while Asian-looking foreigners are not only expected to know the language but also to understand every cultural nuance.

    • Thanks, Aaron! Reminds me of the white Australian linguist David Nunan, who describes how he had learned to speak Thai, but often when he tried to speak Thai in Thailand, his interlocutors would kind of panic and say something like “No English. I don’t speak English” – refusing even to recognize his attempts at speaking Thai as Thai …
      Nunan, D. (2010). Dog rice and cultural dissonance. In D. Nunan & J. Choi (Eds.), Language and Culture: Reflective Narratives and the Emergence of Identity (pp. 177-185). London: Routledge.

      • Aaron says:

        The McGurk effect takes on new meaning when I reflect on my language experience in South Korea, especially in the context of courtship and marriage. This phenomenon, in which visual signals change aural perception, figuratively demonstrates how biases in foreign love relationships might develop. My Western look and accent in Korean, along with her Asian look and accent in English, would seem to eclipse my Korean verbal skills and her English skills, influencing how our language attempts and cultural adjustments are received and viewed in intimate settings.

        This perceptual bias may be a barrier to true connection and mutual understanding in foreign love relationships. The visual identity, or “foreignness,” seems to pre-condition the relationship’s expectations and interactions, overshadowing language and cultural abilities. In a dating situation, the predisposition to prejudice may confuse the sense of sincerity, purpose, and degree of cultural awareness and adaptability in our relationship.

        Furthermore, in the context of marriage, these prejudices may propagate preconceptions and misunderstandings, influencing relationship dynamics, mutual respect, and larger family relationships with the in-laws. Overcoming such perceptual biases is critical in cultivating a connection based on true understanding, admiration, and love, enabling the partnership to thrive beyond the shadows of preconceptions and misunderstandings and establishing a deeper, more meaningful tie.

  • Sha says:

    This is so sad for Ahmed; he was treated bad because he can hardly express himself. It’s very rude not to treat someone well. I always encounter students like me who struggle with English, and rely on translators. Sometimes, they refrain from speaking because they are afraid they might misundersood. I just listen, try to undertand what they want to express and extend my patience. But I truly appreciate how they put in an effort to improve themselves.

    I can remember when I was young; I really wanted to be proficient in English. I worked on it because, in the Philippines, English proficiency is highly valued as a foundation for knowledge. Now I’m in Australia, I’m also struggling to understand the accent of the locals, but I’m actively working on it. I believe, I will adapt and get used to it.

    • Good luck, Sha! You’ll get there, for sure. Sometimes when you feel afraid to be misunderstood, it might help to consider what the worst thing that can happen would be … in most situations much less is at stake than was the case for Ahmed and a little awkwardness won’t hurt 🙂

  • Hao says:

    I work at a Japanese restaurant, and one time, a guest asked if my restaurant had “plain salt,” but I misunderstood her and thought about “plain sauce,” so I said “no” to her. Then, she explained it to me again, and I realised I thought about a different flavour. The embarrassing thing is I went to a kitchen and asked my manager if we had “plain sauce.” After that, he told me he’d heard “sauce,” not “salt,” which also confused him. Another time, a woman asked to borrow a pen, and again, instead of giving her the pen I was holding, I thought she was asking to borrow “paint,” so I told her I didn’t have any. Sometimes, these situations make me feel embarrassed about my listening and pronunciation. Fortunately, people around me always help me, and they try simpler ways to tell me what they need.

    • Thanks for sharing, Hao! In hindsight these will just make funny language learning stories 😉 … btw, I think asking for “plain sauce” makes more sense than asking for “plain salt” – it’s not only about pronunciation, but also context. If the customer had simply asked you for “salt” this might not have happened …

      • Hao says:

        You’re right! But we do use “plain” for salt rather than sauce. We have two kind of salt for them to choose which are plain salt and seaweed salt. Not like sauces, we name them: traditional, spicy, yuzu, etc. Therefore, I’m still learning and getting familiar with pronunciation and accents as well ưhen guests asking us to do a favour 😂

    • Mamduha Hossain Sharita says:

      Hi Hao
      Your comment reminds me of some kind of similar incidents most of the time happen to me, especially in Australia. So, this kind of misunderstanding in pronunciation is a very common thing. Especially in countries like Australia where there are people from multicultural settings. Even a Japanese restaurant is also based on multicultural settings where customers and staff come from various linguistic backgrounds. Yeah, this kind of misunderstanding can be embarrassing for both parties as well. Your incident reminds us that we need patience and open-mindedness, even when we have language barriers and cultural differences around us.

  • Natalie says:

    It was hard for me to relate to the feeling of helplessness that migrants must feel because I am privileged enough to have English, a language spoken internationally, as my first language. I’m actually writing this comment from Germany, where I plan to move in the next few years – I’ve been challenging myself to use German with the locals as much as possible because I know that I will need to rely on my German skills when I move here. A few times I have panicked when people have started speaking to me, assuming that I am a native, and I have no idea what they’re talking about; but unlike migrants who don’t have a safety net, I am fortunate enough to have my German cousin with me who can always swoop in and translate. When this happens, people tend to direct their conversation towards her, deciding that I am too difficult to try and talk to. In those moments, I get a glimpse of how overwhelming it must be for migrants surrounded by an unfamiliar language, and how it feels to be excluded from the conversation when your language performance isn’t up to scratch.

  • Melisa Nguyen says:

    Thank you for an interesting article. It makes me think about my experience in an all-rounder position in Australia. As an international student who works in hospitality, I think my Asian appearance and Vietnamese accent have an enormous impact on how customers interact with me. One time, I and my Western-look-like colleague stood together and a guest came to ask for a drink, I quickly replied to him and he ignored me to ask my colleague again. It has happened to me several times with Australian guests because they may want to interact with the ones who have the same appearance and accent as them. Besides, they are afraid that I cannot understand what they say totally. Sometimes I feel bad about this so I still try my best to adjust my accent to sound not to be too ”Vietnamese”.

    When I applied for a gaming attendant in a TAB lounge, I had a talk with an Asian manager there and she said that Western managers often prefer Aussie or Western-look-like-staff due to their accents.

    However, back to my current part-time job, most Asian appearance guests want to be taken orders and feel comfortable having long conversations with me. Therefore, somehow I feel balanced because this language barrier happens in all ethnic societies and contexts, not just because I’m an Asian in Australia.

    • Thanks, Melisa, for sharing your experience! I also worked in hospitality as a student and am grateful for the personal development and enhanced communication skills I got out of it. Dealing with difficult clients can be hard but you meet also so many nice people – as you say, in the end it balances out …

  • China says:

    I think it is true that language proficiency influences tensions. I worked in my father’s company before moving to Australia. In the company, I had a colleague who was from Myanmar. Her Burmese, Japanese and English are very fluent so that she can get clients and brings benefit to the company. Some clients feel anxiety at first because they don’t think she can speak Japanese fluently. However, tensions get loosen when they find she uses Japanese well. Thanks to her high language proficiency, not only people in the company but also clients from many countries can communicate with her comfortably. On the other hand, many people who has low Japanese proficiency work in factories, construction and so on. That’s because they don’t have to use difficult Japanese to work. I think they are nervous whether they can perform a task appropriately with using Japanese. I have the same feeling now. I will work here during the summer break, and I am worried that if I can work in English. I will experience the tension between performance and perception in language proficiency, however, I am kind of looking forward to it.

    • Thanks for sharing that trilingual worker’s experience. Being able to communicate well in multiple languages is definitely an asset. And good luck with your job – I’m sure you’ll do well 🙂

  • Jung Ung HWANG says:

    Before I came to Australia with my working holiday visa, I had been in Philippines for approximately a year to study English and to get a taste of English working environment. I felt a bit embarrassed, but I thought I was good at English at that time because I always had good grades compared to other students in exams, and I didn’t feel any particular problem communicating with my teachers.

    However, I was so frustrated when I first encountered authentic Australian English in Sydney international airport. I was not able to understand what Australians said due to their unique accent and Australian English idioms.

    Furthermore, their speaking pace are too fast for me to understand as if they are not waiting for finishing my saying unlike my English teachers from Philippines. Overconfidence of my English melted away as if the bread crumble to dust.

    Despite the post argues that not only individuals but also intuitions put their effort to facilitate communication between ESB and NESB speakers, I think individual efforts should be prioritised than any others because digitalised generations have been presenting unprecedented language education environment in human history. No matter how much you spoon-feed someone, they will become malnourished if they don’t open their mouth.

    • Thanks for sharing your experience! Re individual responsibility: the point of Faysal’s experience is precisely that language learners opening their mouth may not be enough for them to be heard …

  • Jaehoon Kim says:

    This article indeed reminded me of when I was working in a meat factory. One of my superior workers who was working as a tutor for other general workers was a Filipino, and she had a strong accent mixed Filipino with Australian English. It was quite difficult for people to understand her words at once. There were a couple of tutors in our shift and the others were Australian. I thought their work-performances and experiences may have been the same. However, many workers were usually trying to talk with Australian tutors rather than her. In addition, even supervisors had a conversation with those tutors without her when they wanted to know the outcomes or progress of tutoring, or even have small talks. The worst thing that ever happened to her was that one day a rude novice directly said to her, “Please speak English.” , while she was explaining how to work in English.
    At that time, in my view, it seemed that she just accepted her situation and kept working just for the money. I thought if she had a great proficiency in English, she could be in a higher position in the factory.

    Thank you for your thought-provoking article!

  • Sonintsetseg says:

    It seems to me that the worst feeling in this world is not being treated enough and not being considered seriously after having a conversation or interaction with someone who is a native English speaker. As an Asian immigrant to all English-speaking countries, I used to feel that I was trying to fit in somewhere where I didn’t belong, and it gave me the feeling that I was far more apart from the earth. Perhaps it was just part of the cultural shock that I diagnosed myself with. However, Australia isn’t giving me this feeling yet compared to the other countries. In my own experience, I have struggled just like other people who are from non-English-speaking communities. I failed every time when I first went to America. Most of the employees there were prepared to hire people who were from European countries or who spoke proficient English. At that time, I thought I had to practice and try to sound like a native. Looking at it now, if I hadn’t felt that feeling, I wouldn’t have practiced my language, and I would have never left my shell. Interestingly, from that time on, I started to think that every obstacle we are facing is to become a better version of ourselves. Lastly, I think if you weren’t raised or born with a hyper-central language or English-speaking community, it is normal to feel like us, and I have just realized that I am not alone.

    • Thanks, Sonintsetseg! You are right that this is all about respect and not being accorded respect. So glad to hear that you’ve had good experiences and Australia and, even more importantly, that you are not alone!

  • Hazel says:

    Reading this article was a mixed bag of emotions. On the one hand, it never occurred to me that someone could lose their life because of language fluency issues, and it’s sad to see. On the other hand, I feel lucky. I came here as a Chinese student who has been here for only one and a half years. Whether it was through the GP who made the appointment or the pharmacist at the pharmacy. Even in the case of my symptoms, which I am not so proficient in describing, they are all warm and patient. I am really grateful to them.
    I remember when I first came to Sydney, my roommate got COVID-19, I used Google Maps to go to the nearest clinic, but I couldn’t get an appointment without it, so they patiently told me the location of the pharmacy and let me make an appointment for the nearest time I could get an appointment. ooh, I was really touched at that time, and the level of my speaking skills at that time, I was really nervous, so I might have been the kind of person that could piece together the sentences! I was really impressed. They risked the possibility of infection to help me make an appointment and show me the way to the pharmacy, I really appreciated it that. We also felt the warmth of the city when we first arrived.

  • Helena says:

    It’s sad but true. The article reminded me of unfortunate and embarrassing situations at the airport upon immigration. Because when entering Australia, there are many people who are fined or asked to leave their belongings behind because they cannot speak English, usually the elderly. Nowadays, English is the hypercentral language but not everyone can speak it well and have standard pronunciation. Many English learners focus on grammar and vocabulary but do not practice pronunciation and accents. They can practice to improve their writing, listening and reading skills but often feel embarrassed when communicating with native speakers. Even myself, when I talk and feel that people don’t get my ideas due to poor pronunciation, I always feel sad and embarrassed. I think compared to trying to have very intensive vocabulary, it is necessary to practice the correct pronunciation.

    • Thanks, Helena! Pronunciation is important, no doubt, but being taken seriously as a speaker of English is not only a matter of how a learner speaks – as we learned in class with reference to the McGurk Effect. Another way to thing about this dialectic is to ask who has the power to impose reception. In the airport situation, the custom officers are empowered to enforce their understandings and travelers are in a much weaker position.
      Here is another example: the US president may be completely incoherent at times but people still listen to him:

      – many language learners speak much more clearly and will still be ignored because they are not deemed worth listening to in the same way …

    • Hao says:

      Hi Helena, I got your thoughts as I’m in your shoes. You remind me of two old ladies who bought noodles at my restaurant. My Chinese manager was there the first time, and it was easy to ask him to help me communicate with the lady. But unfortunately, for the second time, another old Chinese woman said that she wanted to buy ramen. As we usually have a side dish, a bowl of chicken karaage or pork chasu, I asked her what she wanted for the side dish, and she used Chinese to respond. No one else in the restaurant knew how to speak Chinese, so I had to speak English slowly and thank God, we had illustrated pictures to show her. The old lady and I felt embarrassed! She couldn’t express her thoughts, and I couldn’t understand what she needed. Briefly, our dialogue was like:
      Me: Do you want chicken?
      The lady: No chicken. No.
      Me: How about fish?
      The lady: No, no fish.
      Me: Tofu?
      The lady: Yes, yes. Er…Tofu.
      I felt so bad after that, and I hoped I hadn’t taken the wrong order and she would enjoy her meal.

  • Undraa says:

    It is undeniably true that adult migrants face double challenges simultaneously as well as things to do with new language is always weigh above their language skills. As far as I noticed, the weakest aspect of the majority of Asian learners who come from expanding circle countries is speaking as they do not have authentic communication experience in English, they practiced speaking exclusively in the classroom, not outside of it.

    My sister came to Australia few months ago and she is studying English at Academies Australasia, which is one of the ELICOSs in Sydney. She told me that even though she does not encounter any challenges when interacting with her fellow students as well as language teachers, she still has a fear of communicating with others in her daily life. This is due to the fact that there is no scaffolding, no graded talk and sometimes no willingness to understand her in authentic environment. One day, she went to barbershop as her son needs to get haircut. After a few minutes, she called me and wanted me to talk to the barber who was doing haircut as he just trimmed my nephew’s hair and he did not do proper haircut. When I asked him why, the barber told me that my sister did not want machine haircut. However, my sister said that she did say that she wanted machine haircut for her son to the barber. My sister got depressed because the barber did not try to understand her as well as did not show respect to her due to her limited English proficiency.

    • Sorry to hear this happened to your sister, Undraa! It seems just like a little thing but these small slights add up to undermine newcomers’ sense of confidence and self-worth …

  • lily says:

    After reading this article, I got a little bit sad emotion as my accent is very serious, and I usually afraid of talking with others in English. Sometime when I am talking with others, they cannot understand what I want to express since my accent and my unnatural English expression. I want to talk more with others, but I also feel embarrassed when I speak English. This situation changes my personality–When I speak to others in English, I say very little, so people think I am introverted, in fact, I am usually an outgoing person who talks a lot. So from my personal experience, it is the common phenomenon that people with accents can really obscured their skills or their personality.

  • Carla says:

    At school I had many years to slowly adapt to the peculiarities of each newly learned language.
    Especially the learning process of English, which started already in the third grade with acquiring words like house, roof and so forth, each colourfully and vividly presented in drawings and repeated over weeks, differed a lot from my adult language learning experience.
    During my Bachelor I started to learn the New Greek language for two years. I was shocked about the not previously experienced pace of language learning. In less than a week it was assumed that I could use the differing alphabet.
    Also the proportion of speaking in class was much less, which is why I was afraid to use the language at real life occasions in Greece. Inconveniently, I was forced into the situation to speak Greek by my companions, since I was officially acquired to have level B1+.
    Before these events, I never thought that the discrepancy of active and passive language knowledge and the fear of speaking out could be that big.
    Still, my aim is to close the gap between understanding Greek conversations or journal articles and having simple conversations in the language itself, at least in the distant future.

    • Thanks, Carla, good luck with your Greek language learning journey! One of the things that make adult language learning so hard is that we are more competent “in real” than we can express in the new language … in our research, service workers who work a lot of with linguistically diverse populations told us that managing customers’ frustration at not being understood was one of their greatest challenges …

      • Carla says:

        Thanks Dr. Piller for giving me an insight into these applicable and relevant studies! This actually explains my language learning frustration a lot and gives me new motivation to pursue this dream, as it shows that many people have similar sentiments during their language learning experiences.

  • Larissa says:

    This is such a sad story, and we have so much to learn from it. I can only reflect in some way on my brief experience in a French hospital. While travelling, I became quite ill and was taken to the local hospital. I was quite young and while my French was ok, I was so overwhelmed by the experience that I lost confidence in my ability to communicate. The hospital was overcrowded, so I was in a bed in a hallway with very young doctors walking around in pairs. I later learned it was a university hospital, but it struck me how everyone just passed me and stared – nobody really spoke to me, and I felt so alone. I eventually went out to the waiting area to use the pay phone to call my Mum in Australia, but when I came back, another patient was in my bed! They had assumed it was free because I hadn’t told anyone where I was going. The combination of my own and others’ perceptions of my language proficiency completely controlled my performance, and I was so glad to get out of there.

  • Durian says:

    Assumptions about language proficiency often revolve around accents and cultural communication styles. Native speakers may erroneously perceive non-native speakers as less competent, particularly if they detect a noticeable accent. This perspective tends to disregard the impressive language skills and cultural insights that non-native speakers typically possess. Accents are primarily shaped by one’s learning environment and do not consistently reflect one’s genuine proficiency. It is more beneficial to prioritise effective communication and cultural awareness over accentuation when assessing language skills, thereby fostering inclusivity in language interactions.

    Drawing from my personal experience, when I was around 10 years old, I visited South Korea during the summer break. I met with friends who lived in Korea, and they requested that I speak in English, read a book aloud, and construct longer sentences. I complied with their request. However, they critiqued my English, deeming it as subpar because they had been taught the American accent in Korea. In contrast, in Australia, where I lived, we don’t roll our tongues when pronouncing ‘r.’ For instance, ‘here’ would sound like ‘hia’ or ‘there’ like ‘thea.’ While this experience wasn’t traumatising, it was somewhat disheartening to be treated as though the American accent was the sole standard for English proficiency.

    • Thanks, Durian! Funny that Korean kids should correct your English accent – great example how ideological (and irrelevant to good communication) accents are …

    • Natalie says:

      Hi Durian, I found your comment really interesting as it shed light on a perspective I hadn’t thought about before. Until now, I assumed that accent bias mainly occurred in ‘inner circle’ English-speaking countries, so I was quite surprised to hear that it happens in South Korea too! I suppose it does make sense, since standard language ideologies and the desire to ‘sound like a native’ are such prevalent ideals in the English-speaking world, however, I would have thought that fellow language learners would be less critical because of their ability to empathise with others’ learning journeys. It’s both sad and concerning to see how consumed all English speakers (both ‘native’ and ‘non-native’) seem to be with all the flawed ideologies surrounding the ‘right’ way to speak the language. I often wonder if and how it’s possible to undo these detrimental ways of thinking so that we can move towards a more unified global community of English users. Thank you for broadening my understanding of this topic!

  • Angeline says:

    Hello, Dr. Ingrid Piller! Your post is very thought-provoking and insightful. We recently had a discussion in class focusing on intercultural communication in the context of health care. I saw how alarming it was that the ways in which patients are spoken to and treated are frequently dependent on their race or the specific community they belong to—things that are not inherently negative and are beyond the individuals’ control. With something as important as medical consultations, objectivity should ideally be pursued. However, explicit and implicit biases often hinder that from happening, turning what is supposed to be a right into a privilege. The entrenched dichotomy between individuals who can and cannot use English in a particular way reminds me of the idea of ‘Unequal Englishes’. Particular ways of using English—and by extension, particular users—are seen as more superior over others. Personally, in my country, I see this in how people have come to possess different chances of being employed primarily because of their (in)ability to speak like a native speaker of English, regardless of what other skills and qualifications they may have. I do think that it would be interesting to delve more into how English and its many different speakers have come to be perceived in this kind of way, especially since this view has evidently caused many groups of people to be unrightfully and unnecessarily sidelined and, as discussed in the post, neglected.

  • Xi Yang says:

    This sad story just brutally states the fact that some people who speak a language fluently think they are superior than those who do not possess a good language proficiency on this particular language (even when this is not their mother tongue). How many times we have heard that people who cannot speak the dominant language in the country they are living experienced unfair or injustice treatment. Just because they are unable to speak the language fluently or with an accent, it doesn’t mean they are not good people and they are allowed to be treated differently! For example, English, native speakers should aware that it is never easy for the people who do not use English as their first language to study English, especially for those who do not learn English at a earlier stage.

    • Mustaqim Haniru says:

      Hi Xi, I definitely agree with your point!! i have been witnessing that people with poor English sometimes encounter unjust treatment in their social environment, especially in English speaking country. it looks like having an excellent English command is the key requirement to get the good education, promising job, even to make friends in this context. And sadly, this phenomena is starting to occur even in ESL and EFL countries, including in my country. Individuals with good English are deemed modern, competent, and cool while those who don’t are considered the opposite. Hopefully, people start to realize that individuals’ worth should not be judged solely on language competence, as things like skill, kindness, honesty also matter.

  • Sara says:

    This story sends out a powerful message. No individual should have to be disadvantaged and suffer (constantly) this way which in turn can take a toll on mental health. I really empathise with this story. Not as a false patient but being dismissed by the government office (gatekeepers) simply due to language barriers, being a single women and of asian descent (particularly judged for looking as though l am from a SE Asian country where they highly devalue in their city as lower class, although born in Australia). After my persistence and several attempts, one day I asked for help (as l was going to give up and fly home) by my hotel receptionist (a dear friend l will always remember of his loyalty and service). At that very moment the hotel owner’s son walked in along with several of his father’s friends during an evening over Ramadan to have a small party over arabic coffee and caramel dates in the foyer (the son having returned from graduating postgraduate studies in the UK).

    I was told to express my concerns across in English while he translated my story across to several other men (his father’s friends) which happened to be from various departments, lawyers, human rights and justice, friends with the head ministry of labour officer etc) and of course l had to accept their offering of arabic coffee and 3 dates for Allah as a sign of respect and give my honest advice of which men was most “fat” (l did not argue with their language choice as non native english speakers) and tell them a little about Australia. Respect developed mutually and language was no longer a barrier. The resolution followed in 1 minute. My case may be an isolated one where timing was everything. But from personal experience, to help prevent these events from becoming isolated, there needs to be a medium body and where the linguistically disadvantaged can communicate in their L1 for support and which is not a government body or corporate institution. It was because of this which left a positive mark l will never forget.

    It is the minority of ignorant ones, all countries have this. It’s time we make a positive shift where we can (in every opportunity we encounter).

  • Kyungmin Lee says:

    It is the case which can happen in many other countries. Whether the official language is English or not, those who are non-natives in each country might have been treated in the same way as the case of Faysal Ishak Ahmed. As one of the non-native students living here in Australia, I also sometimes feel people judge me based on my pronunciation and they treat me as someone who exited in their mind before having known me. ‘To mitigate linguistic disadvantage requires both individual and institutional efforts.’ To tell the truth, it will require efforts amongst broader societies and therefore linguistic diversity should be taken into consideration as a basic and compulsory subject all over the world.

  • Katherine Douglas says:

    It’s sad how certain people can be “written off”, simply because they are not perfectly understood in a language. I admit, I have been guilty of this when I was younger. Several years ago, I worked various retail jobs to support myself during undergraduate Uni and TAFE. Because I didn’t go out much during my teens, I had had little exposure to people who spoke other languages, and had accents. When I was unable to understood a person with an accent (on the job), I confess it was harder to be patient.

    One day, I realised it was my job to serve, and not for customers to make my job easier. I’m glad I kept trying, because some customers saw this, and they tried to meet me halfway too during the sales process (including helping me understand them). Work was so much better after that for both of us.

    Kindness, effort and patience go a long way in such a situation, along with a refusal to judge others on their accents. Sharing the “communicative burden” (Piller) is always a good thing to remember – it’s both people’s responsibility to communicate well in order to get the best possible outcome.

  • Bindu pokhrel says:

    I would call it a ruthless and inhuman act if one really has to pay their life off for their insufficient competency on any languages. Language enables us to express ourselves exactly to the point and limited or no knowledge of so can be a barrier to the effective communication. Different languages are spoken in diverse ways. Not all the languages have the similar ways of expressing emotions. Keeping language proficiency aside, I believe every society or culture in the world equally values love and kindness. While the world is celebrating cultural and linguistic diversities, jugging people on how they pronounce a word is not regarded civilized. Rather then being captious one has accept the people from the parts of the world as they are. Before everything there should exist a humanitarian ground for considering, loving and respecting people.

  • ROSE GARRY says:

    Linguistic diversity is common to some societies. In such cases, the intelligibility of using the dominant language have been a great struggle when the dominant language is a L2 or another language. As English is a global or international language, for some societies learning both the language and content are complex. Accents and pronunciations are challenges as L1 accent becomes stronger and thus a conversation with a NS and NNS could be distorted.
    It is a case by case situation. Two different language speakers conversing in English would be less face threatening then with a NS and a NNS. However, for the conversation to be clearer and understandable each participant has the roles of asking for clarification or affirmation. This may be possible depending on the level of proficiency.

  • Jay Mi Tan says:

    It is sad but true, that societies are very judgmental. There are so many cases in the world where people are shunt merely because they could not speak the variety of language that are deemed as ‘standard’. The case of Ahmed is indeed an extreme case, which caused his life, and society need to stop being so judgmental/ stereotypical. Just because the variety of language is different, that doesn’t make a human less human. It would be great if linguistic diversity and/or pragmatics could be made a compulsory subject around the world, to make the world a better place.

  • Ha Pham says:

    it is a sad story when a young man died soon just because of his poor English proficiency. Native speakers should have treated them in a more sympathetic way, giving nonnative people opportunity to express their dire needs especially basic medical care. Why dont native speakers try learn a bit nonnative people’s language so that they can understand what nonnative speakers are endeavoring to get across.

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